Grand opening of Watsonville affordable farmworking housing

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (KION-TV)- Eden Housing is a non-profit organization with 55 years of experience providing safe and affordable housing, helping families and communities that face housing challenges.

Today is the grand opening from 12pm to 2pm held at 1482 Freedom Boulevard, Watsonville, California.

The 53-unit complex dedicates half of its units to farmworkers in what's called a historically strong farm working community.

The Tabasa Gardens project is worth more than 43 million dollars and also offers half of the units there for local farmworkers.

“My parents were agricultural workers so we recently lost our home, we became homeless on February 1st which was a huge impact just from the family I came from and from the family I created," Yizdrel Adan a new resident to the facility said.

The project was unique in that it was approved in 90 days when normally it would take a year.

The community will serve residents earning between 25% to 50% of the area’s median income, equivalent to an annual income of $28,000 to $56,000 for a two-person household. 

"The majority of the workforce here is in agriculture, we don’t have the income that Santa Clara has in the tech industry, so people have to pay nearly their combined income for rent," supervisor of Santa Cruz County Felipe Hernandez said. "Projects like this are extremely important in our community.”

This building also features an all-electric property and EV charging locations on site.

"It has drop off areas for the metro to pick up in 15 minutes and so these are the kind of project that we need for the future," Hernandez said.

This project is named after an important community member Rosa Tabasa who was a leader in the Filipino community.

A mural dedicated to Tabasa is painted on the side of the building.

"They took a picture from my mom back in the day, she replicated it in tile and the colors of it," Greg Tabasa said.

There will also be six units and an office dedicated to households experiencing and transitioning from homelessness.